Fall For My Ex’s Mafia Dad
Chapter 191

"Okay!" Janeen says, clapping her hands and putting on a false little smile as she responds to the clear tension in the room. My dad stands at her side, awkward and sad, looking at Daniel like his heart breaks for him.

My own heart surges for my dad, who I told the whole plan to yesterday. But he, like Janeen, hasn't decided what he's going to do.

"Is there anything else, big, that Daniel needs to know, Ivan?" Janeen asks, coming to Ivan's side and looking over at Daniel and Jerome, who are having a heated whispered discussion.

"No," Ivan says. "Everything is...as expected. Kent will be transferred to the state penitentiary at noon tomorrow. It's done."

"All right then," Janeen says, putting a hand on his shoulder. "Why don't you and Fay...step outside then. I'll bring you something cool to drink."

I nod to Ivan, looking anxiously at Daniel, and together we walk past him and out onto the back deck, where the sun is halfway below the horizon.

We're alone for a minute as we sit down in the two chairs seated close together facing the ocean, which provide more privacy than the table. We're both quiet for a second, feeling the cool sea breeze play over our skin. Ivan is more reserved than he usually is, clearly reading the grief in this house. It's a mark in his favor that he isn't being smug, as he's been before but...

Well. It also doesn't matter - not anymore. The plans are already in motion.

"How are you, Fay?" Ivan asks, taking off his suit jacket and hanging it over the back of his chair before rolling up his sleeves to be more comfortable. I look up at him, studying his quiet face.

"I'm okay," I say, shrugging.

"Are you sure?" he asks, hesitant. "Because, I mean I know that Daniel's reaction was the most dramatic but..." he glances down at my stomach here, "it's not as if you don't have your own stakes in this. It would make sense if you were upset too." "I'm...not not upset," I say, considering. But then I sigh and look down at my hands. "But, I mean...I think that I came to terms with this a long time ago, Ivan. Or not a long time ago but...you know what I mean, right?"

"Yeah," he replies, and I look up to see him slowly nodding, studying me. "Do you feel like you're...moving on from it?"

"I think that I'm starting to make new plans," I say softly, and I let my eyes fall here to the tattoo on his arm visible below his rolled-up sleeve - the one he told me, a long time ago, was for his dad.

We're interrupted for a moment as Janeen does as she's promised, bringing Ivan a beer and me a glass of seltzer water with lime - the nausea was bad today - and chatting with him for a moment before sensing the tension between us, my desire for privacy. When she heads back inside, Ivan turns to face me, tapping his beer against the edge of my glass. "Tell me, Fay," he says, his voice soft. "I need to know what you're thinking. Clearly, it's bothering you."

I take a moment to organize my thoughts. "Ivan," I say quietly. "You said some really cruel things to me the night Kent was arrested."

I look up at him then, taking in his sorrowful face, apology written all over it. "I know," he says quietly. "I'm sorry. I regret them."

"You told me I was an idiot for letting him knock me up -"

"I just found out you were pregnant, Fay," Ivan murmurs, shaking his head, "I was devastated -"

"You also listened into all of my private conversations in that house - with Kent, and with Daniel - and many of those conversations had nothing to do with your investigation -"

"I had to listen to everything to decide what was important to the investigation!"

I look up at him then, shaking my head.

"You also told me that Kent killed your dad."

Ivan deflates at this, blinking at me in surprise. Then he looks away from me, his jaw tight as he glares out over the ocean. "Well that I'm not sorry about," he says, his words clipped. "That's true." "Is it?" I ask, leaning forward. "Ivan - that's something I need to know."

"Well, he already told you about it," Ivan snaps, turning back to me. "The night before - when you were... in your room. He told you that he killed a cop. The guy he was talking about was my dad." "What happened?" I keep my voice soft.

Ivan's face is stony for a long moment. "I was just a kid," he says softly. "I - it took me a long time to find out about the details. But in short - it was a raid, on a mob family, like the one I performed. And Kent was there - he doing a deal with them, he wasn't the target. He was a low-level guy at the time, just scraping by - kind of like your boy Jerome was doing when you met him. But all of the police reports are solid on it: Kent Lippert was the one who shot the bullet that took down my dad. And it wasn't in self defense. It was cold blood."

We sit quietly for a moment, and I let Ivan piece himself back together, understanding that that was a lot to confess. And as much as I try to keep myself cold, my heart does reach out to him. Because....damnit, I don't hate Ivan. I can't.

And my heart breaks for the little boy whose dad didn't come home that night.

But I put my grief for him aside, because I have to. There is work to be done.

"So, is all of this..." I start, keeping my voice soft as I reach out and brush my fingers over that tattoo on his arm, "is it...revenge?"

"It's justice," he murmurs, and I look up to see his eyes on my fingers. A long moment passes before he speaks again. "But...there's a little revenge in there, Fay, yes. I became a cop because I wanted vengeance. It...changed as I got older, as I went through it all, and especially as I went undercover and understood the criminal world more." He exhales a deep breath then, blinking and shaking his head. "It's...crazy, Fay. The things I figured out when I was undercover. So no, it's not all for vengeance, but it... it is to get these bosses off the streets. Because they're hurting people."

He looks at me now, his eyes a little hungry for understanding, for reassurance.

And I give it to him, nodding, leaning forward. "I get it," I murmur, and I turn my face upwards towards him. "You're doing the right thing."

He leans forward to, reaching his hand out for my face.

But before he can touch me, I glance towards the house, anxious. "Ivan," I breathe, but I say his name fast, like it's a great risk.

"What?" he asks, freezing, going tense beside me. "What is it?"

I shake my head, glancing again at the house, though I can't see anyone inside it - which means they can't see me. "I - I think you need to be careful with Daniel," I murmur.

"Why?" he asks, sitting up straight so that he can peer over the backs of our chairs and through the window to the house, but I hiss his name and pull him back down.

"Because," I growl, letting my eyes flick to the side a little like I'm deciding what to do, "if you...if you understand that need for vengeance...I think you should probably understand how Daniel is feeling right now."

"What are you saying, Fay?" Ivan asks, all cop now - leaning forward to peer into my face. And I steel myself inside, knowing that I have to be very, very careful with what happens next.

I screw my lips to the side and stare up at him, as if deciding whether or not to say anything. But then I close my eyes and let out a big exhale of breath, my hand going to my stomach. "I want to do the right thing, Ivan. But...I think he's planning something," I say, all in a rush.

"What?" Ivan hisses, pissed and a little scared all at once. "What - what do you mean? When? How?"

"I don't know," I say, shaking my head a little as my eyes open and I lean forward to confess. "Obviously he and Jerome don't tell me everything - they just want to keep me safe, I think. But - I've heard them talk. About...about tomorrow."

"Tomorrow?" Ivan asks, his eyes going wide. And then he tries to glance back towards the house again but I grab him by the shirt, hauling him back down. "Tell me everything you know, Fay," he demands through his teeth. "Every single word." "I don't know," I say, desperate, "Ivan, please don't hurt him -"

Ivan groans now, leaning his head back and closing his eyes, clenching his teeth - clearly torn between wanting to do his job and wanting to promise me that Daniel - who he knows means so much to me - will be okay.

"I'll do everything I can, Fay," Ivan murmurs, covering his eyes with his hand. "I promise. But you've got to tell me everything you know."

"Promise me, Ivan," I beg, tugging on his shirt, making him look at me. He obliges me, staring into my eyes with his own serious grey gaze. "Promise you'll keep him safe."

"I promise," he agrees, sincere. "Now tell me."

"I don't know much," I murmur. "But - they said something. About - about a perimeter on the state penitentiary. About a coffee shop, and an intersection? About...some flaw in the process - and how...how they think they can get him. Tomorrow."

"Shit," Ivan growls, letting out a frustrated huff. And then, as I predicted, he starts to stand up. But I don't let him, tugging him back into his chair with my hands wrapped in his shirt. "Let go, Fay," Ivan says, his voice serious. "I have...I have to get back to work. We have to prep for this."

"Please don't tell him I told you," I beg, scared, letting my lower lip tremble. "I - it would break his heart to know, Ivan," I say, shaking my head. "He can't know I betrayed him, like...like I did Kent -"

"Fay," Ivan whispers, putting his hand on my cheek. "You didn't betray Kent. You didn't know."

"But I did just betray Daniel, didn't I?" I say, guilt in every word. I allow my lower lip to tremble, just a bit.

"You did it because it's right," Ivan murmurs, leaning closer to me. "You have a good heart, Fay. I see it in you."

"Promise me it will all turn out all right," I whisper, desperate.

"I promise," he says, his face inches from mine now. "It will all come out right. And I'll...we'll...

But I don't let him finish, because I lean forward, and I kiss him.